On June 27, 2018, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an opinion establishing that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) is a proper party to an appeal of a Commission order. Hamilton Se. Utils., Inc. v. Indiana Util. Reg. Comm’n, No. 93A02-1612-EX-2742, 2018 Ind. LEXIS 496, at *1-12 (Ind. June 27, 2018). Interestingly, the Commission had participated as a party in…
On July 13, 2018, Parr Richey attorney Mike Schultz will speak on “Strategies Used to Delay/Deny Claims” and “Bad Faith and Breach of Contract Litigation” at an NBI continuing legal education seminar in Indianapolis. Mr. Schultz is part of a distinguished panel of attorneys who regularly engage in insurance coverage litigation. The seminar, which is presented by the National Business…
In June 2017, Florida Power and Light (“FPL”), a rate-regulated electric utility, filed an application with FERC requesting authorization to transfer its ownership interests in substation equipment and other assets to JEA, the largest community-owned electric utility in Florida. FERC dismissed FPL’s application for lack of jurisdiction. The net book value of the retained assets to be given to JEA…
On February 20, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court in CNH Industrial v. Reese rejected the Sixth Circuit’s approach to interpreting collective bargaining agreements (“CBA”), instead affirming that courts must interpret such agreements in accordance with ordinary principles of contract law. The Court held the only reasonable interpretation of the CBA was that post-retirement health care benefits offered under the CBA…
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion finding that the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (“PURPA”) does not authorize lawsuits between cogeneration facilities and electric utilities because there is no express or implied private right of action in the statutory language. Allco Renewable Energy, Ltd. V. Mass. Elec. Co., 875 F.3d 64 (1st Cir. 2017). PURPA was…
With the recent biting cold, many property owners are taking steps to protect their investments to the best of their ability. Some great information on how best to prevent disasters caused by freezing water pipes can be found in the Resource Links at the bottom of this article.
The Indiana Department of Insurance publishes complaint indexes for each year. According to the Indiana Department of Insurance:
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have brought catastrophic flooding to parts of Florida and Texas, and the storm surge has affected other areas such as Charleston, South Carolina where high tides hit almost 10 feet on September 11th, about 3 feet above flood stage. Flooding is everywhere in the news.
In its recent opinion in Telamon Corporation v. Charter Oak Fire Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4207 (7th Cir. 2017), the Seventh Circuit made a pretty serious error in the opinion of the authors of this blog. Indiana’s Supreme Court has unequivocally recognized the fact that a claim for bad faith claim handling may exist even if the ultimate…